Changing the Course of Science Education

With society’s every-increasing reliance on science and technology, students must be prepared for the workplace of the future.

That’s what the National Science Resource Center (NSRC) is providing through its Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) Model, which helps school districts implement inquiry-based science programs.

A long-time supporter of the NSRC, Shell has committed to provide $200,000 in grant support and $100,000 in-kind support through 2015 to the NSRC to implement a comprehensive, research-based science program for 25,000 students and 1,000 teachers in grades one through eight in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in Houston, Texas.

HISD teachers will be provided with three levels of professional development, totaling approximately 100 hours, with the goal of developing a new level of competency in the teaching of science pedagogy and content.

The long-term impact of this professional development will be ultimately felt throughout the entire city of Houston and beyond, in the State of Texas. “Students will be engaged in exciting, motivating science courses that provide them with a better foundation of knowledge and skills for high school, college and careers in science, technology, engineering and math,” says NSRC Executive Director Sally Shuler.

The NSRC was established in 1985 by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academies to improve the learning and teaching of science for all students in the United States and throughout the world.

Through NSRC leadership development programs and ongoing technical assistance, the LASER Model has been taught to more than 1,500 state and district teams of leaders, impacting tens of thousands of teachers and an estimated 19 million students annually, representing an estimated 30 percent of the nation’s student population.